Express & Star photographer in running for award of right royal moment
Express & Star chief photographer Tim Thursfield’s shot of The Duke of Cambridge has been shortlisted for judging in a national competition to find the best royal shots.
An online public vote was held over a week to find the best of 48 showcased photographs from national and local newspapers, agencies and freelance photographers with thousands of people taking part.
Now Tim’s picture of the Duke meeting crowds at Mary Stevens Park in Stourbridge has been voted to go through to the finals of the third News Media Association Royal Rota Photography Competition.
The judging panel will now preside over the remaining images.
There are five categories: National Newspaper Rota Photo of the Year; Regional/Local Newspaper Rota Photo of the Year; Picture Agency Rota Photo of the Year; Overall Rota Photo of the Year; and a special category – Rota photographs of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle together.
Tim’s picture is up in the Regional/Local Newspaper Rota Photo of the Year category.
The E&S shot was taken when the Duke visited Stourbridge to unveil a new statue of wartime hero Major Frank Foley sitting on a park bench. Thousands of people packed into Mary Stevens Park for the occasion to honour the man dubbed ‘The British Schindler’ because he helped save up to 10,000 Jews from the Nazi concentration camps.
The British spy used his role as passport control officer for the British embassy in Berlin as a cover to help thousands of Jewish families escape from Nazi Germany during the Second World War. He eventually retired to Stourbridge, where he lived just up the road from Mary Stevens Park where the Duke unveiled his statue last month.
The Royal Rota photography competition was launched by the NMA to promote the outstanding work of photographers in the UK news media. The NMA manages the Royal Rota on behalf of its members, allocating passes for the hundreds of Royal engagements undertaken each year.
